Biketown: Changing Lives One Bike at a Time

The Ripple Effect

Our BikeTown project has given away 1,300 free bicycles in 3 years, which just might be enough to start a revolution

bill strickland

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About 15 years ago, long before he was primarily known as a wonkish proponent of utility cycling, or the idea that bikes should be ridden to get somewhere rather than for sport, Joe Breeze was downing beers at a party in Northern California. He was surrounded by trendsetters such as Keith Bontrager (who made the first great mountain bike wheels) and Gary Fisher (who has since laid claim to the unofficial title of father of the sport)-visionaries who, like him, were at the hip, red-hot center of the red-hot sport of mountain biking.

Breeze belonged at the bash because he had built the world's first real mountain bike, and was famous for his elegant, sweet-handling machines. In 2002, he would abandon his off-road roots and begin producing a noble line of bicycles designed only for city riding and commuting, but at the time he was an icon of the wildest sport going. So, without the benefit of hindsight, it was surprising to hear Breeze give a nuanced, far-reaching and accurate answer when someone asked, just making party conversation, "Can bikes really save the world?"

"Wrong question," Breeze said. With a hand holding a red plastic beer cup he gestured around the room at the cycling cognoscenti. "The real question is how can we get enough people on bikes to save the world?"

The Answer

We had many hopes when we began our BikeTown project by giving free bikes to 50 residents of Portland, Maine, in 2003. But solving Breeze's puzzle wasn't one of them. The Treks we gave away went to 1/46th of 1 percent of Portland's population, an inconsequential ratio that shrank even more as we expanded the program, raising the total number of free bikes to 250 in 2004 but spreading them across five cities.

The math was clear: Every bike we gave away possessed the power to spark an individual triumph, but all of them together seemed unlikely to ignite a social revolution.

The stories that came from each of our BikeTowns reinforced the lesson. In Portland, the first 50 BikeTowners burned 751,841 calories in just three months. People shed pounds, stopped smoking and strengthened themselves after illnesses, in one case going from kidney transplant patient to competitive bike racer. Seventy-two percent said that cycling improved their family and social relationships. The personal testimonials racked up in 2004: 92 percent of the 250 BikeTowners said cycling had a positive impact on their lives, 70 percent of those who rode at least 10 miles per week reported higher self-esteem, and nearly half said they became closer to their children thanks to the bike.